1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to image capturing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because travel can be difficult, expensive, or time consuming, many consumers visit a particular location only once and for a very limited time. Thus, these consumers do not have time to wait for preferred image capturing conditions (e.g., a blue sky, a sunset, no rain, daylight, night, no fog, no snow) or the opportunity to return when conditions are preferable. Furthermore, these consumers often have a predetermined ideal image of the scene, such as an image found on a postcard, and they would like to capture this ideal image of the scene, rather than capture an image of how the scene appears while the consumers are physically present at the scene. Also, these consumers often desire to include themselves, friends, or family in the ideal images.
For example, consumers traveling to Yosemite National Park often have a desire to capture an image of the Tunnel View that shows El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls in preferred conditions. However, on a foggy day the consumers' desire would be frustrated with the view partially or completely obscured. Or consumers traveling to Mount Rainier often have a desire to capture an image of the mountain on a clear day, but this desire is often frustrated by the frequently overcast sky in the area. Additionally, these consumers may not be able to wait for better conditions at Yosemite National Park or Mount Rainer and may not be able to return later.
Furthermore, though image processing allows the manipulation of color, brightness, contrast, and sharpness in captured images, the manipulated images must have a minimum image quality that is limited by the image capturing conditions, and the manipulation cannot restore most of the lighting information that was lost. Moreover, infra-red technology in some high-end imaging systems can remove fog and cloud, but these systems are designed to enhance visibility and not image quality, and the information captured from the scene (e.g., colors, levels of illumination, spatial resolution) using infra-red light will be different than the information captured from the scene using visible light and may not correlate well to visible images. For example, green foliage that is dark green under visible light becomes white because foliage reflects lots of infra-red energy. On the other hand, water and blue sky absorb lots of infra-red energy and, accordingly, appear dark. Thus, consumers may not be able to capture or create an ideal image of a scene even using image processing and an infra-red image.